Chapter 38: The Descendant

Hackett contacted me just after we began our approach to the Citadel. "I read your reports," he began. "What's your status?"

"We're about a half hour out from the Citadel," I said. "First thing we need to do is shield the artifact that Bryson's team found right away. My plan is to send EDI into the lab first. Using Garneau's data, she should be able to set up the defence he devised."

"What sort of defence is it, exactly?"

"Miranda, Liara, Tali and EDI have been studying it ever since we left Mahavid," I replied. "They said it was a series of overlapping multiphasic shields. Complicated in principle, but not too difficult to set up."

"And once these shields are in place?"

"EDI and I will search the lab again for more clues. We don't have any new leads at the moment. Even if we did, containing that artifact's the priority."

"Agreed. Keep me posted, Shepard. Hackett out."

Once we docked and went through all the administrative motions, EDI and I left. Anyone else who wanted to take advantage of some unexpected shore leave could so as well, but they were told they had to be ready to return within a moment's notice. While EDI went to Bryson's lab to begin setting up the safeguards, I wandered around. People were still on edge. C-Sec was still out in force. Maintenance was still repairing the damage from the Cerberus coup attempt. At least most of the scorch marks were gone now.

There were a few things that stood out for me. The first was down in one of the refugee camps, where a certain blonde teenager was cheerfully saying hi to a certain turian guard.

"Oh. Hey, it's you. Still waiting, I see. Any news on your parents?"

"No, but… they promised, right? They'll get here soon."

The guard closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm sure they will. I'll drop by later to check in on you, if that's okay."

"Okay."

It might've been grim, but the odds of the kid's parents making it out alive were growing increasingly slim. The guard knew it. I knew it too. But after what I'd just seen, part of me couldn't help but wondering what if they had somehow been caught up in Leviathan's thrall. I'd just left an entire colony whose inhabitants had lost track of everything and everyone for the last ten years. What if that's what the kid had to go through? Ten years wondering what happened to her mom and dad, unable to get any real sense of closure.

After that, I definitely needed some good news. And I found it up on the Presidium, over in the Embassies. There was a human soldier by the name of Lieutenant Page. As I recalled, she was being deployed, her asari spouse had already been sent off and she didn't want to leave her daughter all alone. Page's side of the family wasn't an option, given their xenophobic views. Unfortunately, bureaucracy got in the way of sending the girl to live with her asari relatives on Thessia. Or that was the case the last time I saw them.

Things had changed since I last saw them, however. "I have excellent news," the clerk exclaimed. "Your daughter's paperwork has been processed!"

To say Page was gobsmacked would be an understatement. "What? You said it was impossible—how did you pull it off?"

"Well, I talked to a few friends, called in a few favours. Maybe even stayed up a few nights. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but everything's in order, and your daughter leaves for Thessia tomorrow. A caretaker will travel with her to ensure she reaches her relatives back on the homeworld."

"Thank you!" Page said tearfully. "Thank you so much!"

"Why don't you go spend the time you have left with her? I'll take care of the rest." (1)

There was one more thing I had to do. Entering Udina's old office, I contacted the Council and requested an emergency appointment. It must've been a slow day, because they got back to me within an hour. I gave them a quick summary of what had happened ever since Hackett contacted me. As soon as they realized the gravity of the situation, they were quick to agree that the lab should be shut down. No one would get in or out without my say-so. Or that of TPTB, of course.

With that last bit of business done, I went to Bryson's lab. It seemed different, somehow. Or it became different as I approached the door. Every step I took became louder, the echoes reverberating in time with my own heartbeat. The light became brighter, harsher. And then I stepped inside and everything went dark.

Even after my eyes adjusted, it still seemed so dark. It was the shadows, I decided. They seemed darker, deeper, more inscrutable, hiding who knows what within its unassailable depths, throwing the shadows in stark relief. I could feel my heart beating faster. Stronger. Was that excitement I was feeling? Or fear?

It was with an incredible sense of relief that I saw EDI. Whatever might happen in the next few days—hell, in the next few minutes—at least I wasn't alone. "Report."

"Preparations are complete. You can activate the shields with that control." She pointed to a big button set outside the room holding the artifact. I moved towards the control to activate it.

Or tried to. Suddenly, I felt a wave of vertigo wash over me. The room suddenly seemed larger. Longer. Like the area was being stretched. Like I was being stretched. I think EDI was trying to say something, ask me something, but her words were being distorted. Much like the room was. Gritting my teeth, I dragged one foot forward. Then another. And another.

Everything around me began to fade. To grow dim. To grow dark. Even the lights began to wane. The only light was the artifact and all its hypnotic colours, swirling furiously. They seemed to flash and strobe as I approached. To pulse brighter in beat with each step I took. With each beat of my heart. The intensity grew brighter and brighter, until it became almost painful to witness. I took a deep breath, steeled myself against the vertigo and the blinding light and pushed forward. My hand slapped the control once, twice, sliding against the smooth metal until my fumbling fingers found the button they were searching for.

As soon as I hit it, a cylindrical field of blue hexagons immediately sprang up around the sphere. The room stopped spinning and stretching almost immediately, settling back into a more normal set of dimensions. The shadows retreated as the lights came back on—or maybe they were never off. Maybe it was just me. I quickly looked at the shield and the artifact it contained, nervously seeking reassurance. As I watched, the colours began to slow down, fading away as the swirling became more sluggish. Finally, the only lights I saw from the sphere were faint reflections from the surrounding illumination. (2)

"Shepard?" EDI looked at me curiously. "Are you all right?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this whole hunt thing was starting to get to me. Maybe Leviathan was trying to make me 'turn back' by giving me a serious case of the shivers. Or maybe I just needed less coffee and more sleep. Whatever the reason, I was back to my old self. For better or worse.

It occurred to me that I hadn't answered EDI's question yet. "Yeah. It's just… damn thing's been here the whole time. Why were more people not affected? Like the colonists on that asteroid?"

"Our earlier hypothesis about Leviathan's inability to affect synthetic neural nets may have been accurate. Or perhaps the amount of time spent near the artifact is key. It is possible that, after a certain duration, the artifact affords Leviathan the impressive mind-control capability we observed."

"Impressive and dangerous as hell," I winced. "Bryson's assistant tried to kill me, remember. Hey, whatever happened to Hadley anyway? Do we have an update on his status?"

"He is in a vegetative state. The doctors do not believe he will ever recover."

"Really?" I frowned. "The miners recovered when the artifact was destroyed."

"True. However, Hadley lost consciousness when he attempted to answer our questions about Leviathan. It may have been a deliberate attempt to silence him permanently."

Damn. To think that a man's future would be wiped out like that, just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I shook my head and focused back on the task at hand. "All right. Let's say you're right that Hadley was silenced before he could say too much. Garneau tried to convince us that his search was to no avail. Put that together…"

"And one could surmise that Leviathan was controlling them to protect itself," EDI finished. "To divert people away from its trail."

"Unless there's something else we haven't thought of yet," I added. "It just shows we don't know what we're dealing with yet."

"Despite the risk, this artifact remains our only link to finding Leviathan. Perhaps we could find more information about it here in the lab."

"Agreed. Bryson's team might've turned up something we missed the first time around. But first… is it as easy to turn that shield off as it is to turn it on?"

"Yes."

I had a flashback to all the helpless miners on Mahavid acting like puppets. "Okay, that doesn't seem like a great setup. Can we add some extra safeguards to turn it off? A set of computer commands, entering in biometrics and passwords at separate consoles, that kind of thing?"

"Of course."

"Do it. Meanwhile, I'll look around."

I started at the desk that sported the husk head. After having the living daylights scared out of me when it shrieked out loud, I began rummaging through the drawers. All I found was an access card, though I couldn't tell what it was for. I was just about to leave when I spotted the datapad. It was open to a file containing a summary of various tests run by Hadley:

Energy Emissions Tests on Artifact P3X118

Initial Tests (1238 hours): artifact tests negative for infrared and ultraviolet emissions. No gamma or X-ray radiation detected.

Follow-up tests (0230 hours): artifact does not react to application of various stimuli. Internal readings inconclusive. No progress in determining age. Guess I stayed here all night finding out that this thing isn't really important. Fell asleep at desk.

Conclusion (0745 hours): artifact is definitely inert and safe. Recommend keeping it here for reference. We should all be near it. May be more useful than Leviathan in long run. Recommend we abandon hunt for Leviathan and seek more productive studies.

Returning to EDI, I handed over the datapad. "They were testing the artifact for energy emissions."

"And found nothing," EDI added after skimming over the results. "Still, I recommend leaving it shielded."

"Considering how quickly Hadley went from running tests on the artifact to concluding that everyone should stay near it and stop looking for Leviathan, yeah. Shield stays on. Hey, I forgot to ask: is there anything interesting about the artifact's structure?"

"It is not constructed of the same compounds used in standard Reaper technology. Beyond that, nothing of relevance."

Maybe. But that did suggest that Leviathan wasn't a Reaper, which explained why it may have blown one out of the sky all those centuries ago. "All right. Keep working. I'll continue my search."

The first place I went was upstairs. Someone had set up a small living space and bed there. Considering his role as project lead, it probably belonged to Bryson. And since Garneau had received a bunch of messages from Ann Bryson, it stood to reason that her father might have something from her too.

Sure enough, there was a message from her on his personal computer terminal. I watched as a miniature hologram of Ann popped up over the keyboard. "I'm at the dig site. Project Scarab paid off: I've got another artifact like the one Garneau found. I think it could be affecting people's behaviour. You need to stay away from the one in the lab. Lock it up or shield it or something. I tried to warn Garneau, but I can't get through.

"One more thing: we've got Reaper scouts sniffing around here in the Pylos Nebula. I think they've found the main site. Just in case, I'm heading to the secondary base to grab what research I can."

"Did you hear that?" I called down.

"Yes. Ann Bryson was attempting to contact Garneau on Mahavid, as his datapad suggested. She seems to know something about the artifact."

"She sounded worried."

"If she found another artifact, and Reaper forces were converging on her position, her concern was warranted."

"We need to get to her before they do," I said. "Hopefully, we won't be too late."

Of course, there was a minor problem, one that EDI was quick to point out: "Commander, the Pylos Nebula contains five separate systems."

"Call up the nebula on the galaxy map. I'll search the lab for clues to narrow down her location." Here we go again, I silently added.

While I was up here, I rummaged through the rest of the desk. Checked under the table. Patted down the pillows and sheets. Looked all around and under the chairs and tables. After doing a last-ditch check of the plant, I headed for the stairs. "I don't suppose there's anything in Ann Bryson's work history that might suggest where she might be?"

"Nothing relevant."

As I descended towards the main floor, my gaze fell over the wall at the far end of the lab. Specifically, the table covered with meteorite rocks and spectrographic equipment. And the wall devoted to reports of various unknown creatures. "Any idea if Project Scarab involved element zero? Or whether it has anything to do with unexplored creature sightings?"

"Unlikely. We may learn more from the project requisitions locker."

That would be better than randomly throwing out suggestions and seeing what stuck, I had to admit. Of course, I had no idea where the lockers might be. On a whim, I decided to start at the far end of the lab and work my way back. That's how I stumbled across a datapad with the current travel requisitions for Task Force Aurora. Garneau was apparently team leader for Project Basilisk and booked transport on the MSV Kirkwall. The only other item was Project Scarab. The team leader—surprise, surprise—was Ann Bryson. And she took… "Ann Bryson flew out on a ship called the Icarus," I told EDI. "Can you track its movements?"

"Checking… no. The Reapers have disrupted civilian comm buoys. But we might learn more if we find the ship's specifications."

It took a while, but I eventually found a computer near the Sovereign fragment that had an extranet page open to the Niqunus Ship Schematics website. A few clicks later… "All right. Here we go."

By that point, EDI had finished her work locking down the artifact. She walked over and perused the schematics. "The ship has enhanced electrostatic discharge cells. They facilitate long-range FTL travel."

Right. It was easy to forget that not every location in the galaxy was within a stone's throw of a mass relay. Some places were a little farther away and could only be reached with conventional FTL drives, which generated static electricity. If you couldn't find a planet with a strong magnetic field or a space station equipped with a discharging facility, all that static would build up until it would finally discharge into the ship's hull. That would be bad. (3) "So they jumped to the Pylos Nebula by mass relay, then flew to another system. And since Ann didn't know how much FTL travel would be required, she sought out a ship with those discharge cells."

"Precisely. Otherwise, they would have chartered a less expensive ship."

"Then we can rule out the relay system."

I resumed my wanderings, EDI close behind. After verifying that the galaxy map was displaying the Pylos Nebula, I remembered another artifact that was sitting in the lab. "We found Prothean data earlier. Are there any ruins in the Pylos Nebula?"

"Nothing Prothean."

With that lead going nowhere, I began walking again. I made sure to give the husk head a wide berth, something that reminded me of something. "Hey, I found this access card earlier. Any idea what it's for?"

EDI scanned it. "The requisitions locker."

Bingo!

"According to records, it was last used by Ann Bryson to obtain equipment for Project Scarab."

"And I think we can find out what that equipment was," I said, pointing to something that looked very much like the requisitions locker. I paused, then pointed to the space dedicated to investigating blackout crimes. "Unless criminal activity in the Pylos Nebula is relevant. Say, by people who couldn't remember what they did?"

"The area covered by those reports is part of the Attican Traverse. Given the lawlessness of that region, criminal reports would be unreliable at best."

Oh. Should've remembered that, considering how much time I spent flying around the Traverse. "Never mind, then. Let's see what Ann Bryson requisitioned for Project Scarab." I opened the locker with the access card and began rummaging. "She didn't need an assault rifle omni-blade," I muttered, automatically pocketing it for myself. "She didn't need an environmental suit, either. Or breathing masks. But she did take wind protection gear. And extra water rations."

"Based on what Ann Bryson did or did not requisition, the dig site was arid but habitable," EDI concluded.

"Then get me a filter for systems with compatible planets," I said.

I could've searched further, but time might be of the essence. So I decided to return to the galaxy map and see whether we had enough data to isolate Ann's location. "Okay," I said aloud. "Based on the schematics of the Icarus, it's in two possible systems. And if we factor in the equipment Ann checked out… aha!"

The equipment filter highlighted two possible systems, one of which overlapped with the Icarus filter.

"Based on the data, only one system remains a viable possibility."

Right. What she said. And I said. "Good," I replied. "Let's go get Ann Bryson."

Everyone was back on the Normandy by the time EDI and I returned, so we left almost immediately. As soon as we exited the Pylos Nebula mass relay, we flew straight to the Zaherin system. From there, a simple sensor sweep was enough to determine that three of the four planets had too much nitrogen, methane, ethane or krypton to set up any dig site without breathing masks or respiratory gear. A closer examination confirmed that the presence of a close grouping of environmentally-shielded habitats and an active power source on Namakli, the second planet. The squad suited up and were onboard the shuttle a half hour later.

I could've just skipped to the mission-specific details, but I knew Miranda would probably appreciate giving some background on the planet we were visiting. "What do we know about Namakli?" I prompted.

"Average surface temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, average day length 23.8 Earth hours," Miranda recited on cue. "Briefly colonized by the Pyrena Corporation, a consortium of asari colonists and socialized vorcha labourers. An economic downturn led to an evacuation of the asari. The remaining vorcha reproduced faster than their ability to educate. Eventually, the resulting violence grew to uncontrollable levels and the colonies fell apart. Today, there are no denizens other than roaming packs of vorcha, descendants from the original labourers. Their hostility, coupled with the lack of any complex biota or profitable materials, discouraged any concerted effort at recolonization."

"Thanks, Miranda," I nodded. "Feel better after getting all that out?"

"Much."

"Glad to hear it. EDI?"

"This is the main site of a series of excavations established under Dr. Garret Bryson. Staff records confirm the project lead is his daughter, Ann. She has recently uncovered another artifact possibly linked to Leviathan."

"Like the one on that asteroid mining colony?" Kaidan asked with a grimace.

"Exactly. That discovery must have made this dig site a target. Ann's last message indicated heightened Reaper activity in the area that had recently focused on her location."

"The attack means the Reapers are one step ahead of us," I said, taking over the briefing. "We need to pick up the pace. And since Bryson's daughter is our only lead, our objective is clear."

"Go in, find Ann Bryson, get her out," James summarized succinctly.

"Got it in one," I nodded. "Cortez?"

"Nothing so far, Commander," he replied. "If she's down there, she hasn't responded to our hails. Getting some strange signals, though. Give me a minute."

"The artifact she uncovered may have caused additional problems," Liara frowned. "Who knows what we'll find?"

"Only one way to find out," I shrugged. "Cortez, take us in closer."

"Copy that."

We descended through Namakli's atmosphere and entered a large valley. At the end, we could see the shelters the Normandy's sensors had detected. Peering through the windows, I thought I could see some birds. They were awfully big for us to see at this distance, I thought. The back of my neck began tingling…

"We have hostiles!" Cortez shouted.

We sure did. Harvesters, to be exact. Considering how they were large enough to double as troop transports for Reaper ground forces, it was no wonder we could spot them so fast. "Take us in," I ordered.

"Commander! On the landing platform!"

I looked down at the platform Cortez pointed out. There were two people within the shelter built next to it. "That's her!" I said. "Open a channel."

There was a lot of static, but I managed to make out a distress call: "Attention, shuttle! This is Dr. Ann Bryson! We are under attack!"

"We're coming to get you out," I replied. "Just hang on." I closed the channel and turned to the squad. "Okay, let's—"

Whatever I was going to say was cut short by a sudden impact that knocked the shuttle to the side. "Damn it!" Cortez cursed. "Tracking multiple bogeys!"

"Get us over there!"

Cortez was shaking his head before I even finished. "Negative, it's too hot! Heading to lower platform—hang on!"

Great, I thought as we approached the other platform. What else could possibly go wrong?

"Bogeys are hot on my six, Commander. No time for a touchdown."

I'm a slow learner. I really am a slow learner. Well, that left us with only one option. "Slow down as much as you can," I ordered. "We'll have to jump."

"We'll what?" Tali squealed.

"Approaching drop-off in three…"

"Get ready, people!" Garrus barked.

"…two…"

"This is madness!" Javik shouted.

"…one… "

"Here we go!" James howled.

"…there! Go!"

"Jump!" I yelled.

I couldn't spare the attention to watch Cortez desperately try to shake off the Harvesters, preoccupied as I was with a head count. Somehow, the entire squad made it on the lower platform without toppling over the rails or breaking any legs.

"This isn't a dig site," Liara breathed, "it's a war zone!"

If there were any doubts, they were dispelled as two explosions rang out around us. Looking around, I realized that one of the Harvesters circling overhead was trying to fire at us.

Miranda saw the same thing. "We can't stay here, Shepard!"

"Agreed," I nodded. "Move out, people. Ann's somewhere above us!"

That was when the drop pod crashed in front of us. "Move out after we deal with these guys," I amended.

Thankfully, the pod only contained a handful of husks. For once, we had them outnumbered, outgunned and outmatched. We were making our way to the closest prefab shelter when Ann's voice came over the comm. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm coming down!"

"No!" I shouted over the sound of another Harvester pot-shot. "Stay where you are!" Entering the shelter before the Harvester came again, I continued. "This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy—it's too dangerous! We'll come to you!"

Which might be a little harder considering the next Harvester shot took out the building in front of me and the surrounding walkway. I'd done my fair share of impossible feats, but I was pretty sure walking on air was out of the question.

"Yes. Okay. You should take the elevator up on the far side."

Peering down, I was relieved to see the building hadn't actually been destroyed. It was just the support struts that had been taken out. Jumped down, I just jogged along the roof of the building to the next one. Through the door, I could several more shelters linked together one after the other like a train.

The third shelter had most of its roof torn away. Sparks spat from live wires as papers flew merrily in the wind. The fourth shelter…

Sigh.

The fourth shelter had also lost its support struts, but was somehow still clinging to its prefab quadruplet. Which meant it was dangling vertically at a ninety-degree angle. "Through here," I told the squad, pointing down.

We carefully made our way down to the bottom, where a shattered window let us slip out onto a lower level. Metal floor plates, waste drains and reinforced steel columns contrasted with the harsh, rocky landscape stretching out around us.

Ann's voice broke up the nature sightseeing. "Commander, they're swarming everywhere up here!"

I spotted a couple husks up ahead. Using my fingers, I signalled Team Three to stay here on the high ground while the rest of the squad followed me down a ladder. "Can you find a place to hide?"

"I'll try."

"Get there! Stay put."

As I got off the comm, I spotted a Cannibal right in front of me. Somehow, it hadn't seen me yet, so I fired a shot from my sniper rifle. Then I set it on fire instead. The sound of gunshots told me that Team Three was engaging more hostiles. I motioned for Team Two to go around to the right while Team One and I went left. EDI, Liara and I arrived just in time to see another Cannibal meet a violent and messy end.

The ground shook. Plumes of billowing smoke and fire roared up overhead. "What the hell?"

That was when Team Two showed up. No doubt they had been delayed by more hostiles. "Another Harvester attack set off several barrels of volatile chemicals," she reported. "The entire area's ahead of us is on fire."

"Well, we're not getting up that way," Garrus sighed.

My HUD detected a few more hostiles on approach. More Cannibals. "Take out our friends, then look for another path," I ordered.

Each team picked a Cannibal and unleashed a combo of biotics, plasma and concussive rounds. I just settled for a couple bullets. After reloading, I scanned a weapons mod and climbed a ladder to get back topside. That's when I saw it. "Up here!" I called out.

Once the rest of the squad joined me, I pointed to my right. The buildings were near a natural embankment, just past a narrow gap. "Hop over there and head forward. Looks like a bridge over there!"

Of course, it wasn't quite that easy. "The controls are broken. Tali?"

"On it." She opened the access panel and poked around. "Some wires are shorted. Shouldn't take much to fix it. Give me a second."

"Incoming!"

A drop pod crashed right in front of us. Liara froze whatever it held in a stasis field before the smoke had even dissipated. "You heard Tali," I said. "Let's give her a couple seconds. Weapons free!"

It wound up being more than a couple seconds because the drop pod was packed. I don't know how they managed to squeeze all of them in there, but the pod held a Marauder, a trio of Cannibals and way too many husks for my liking. "Teams One and Two on the Marauder; Team Three on the Cannibals." I pulled out my sniper rifle and added "I've got the husks."

I'd only dropped three husks when the Marauder's shields went down. Activating my cloak, I loaded a fresh clip and sent a single round between its glowing eyes. Switching back to the husks, I noticed Teams One and Two had joined me. Small wonder: Garrus and Javik had taken out two of the Cannibals and were busy dealing with the third. At this point, the husks were the greater threat. If there was any doubt, it was dispelled by the fourth husk I killed. Or rather, where I killed it: a scant ten metres from my position. Little too close for comfort.

Then I realized there was a seemingly innocuous barrel nearby. On a hunch, I gave it a scan. Sure enough, its contents wouldn't hold up well to any severe jostling. Say, from a gunshot? "Liara, singularity on the left. Funnel the husks towards that barrel," I ordered, highlighting it on my HUD.

"Got it." The resulting vortex only snatched up two husks, but that was just a bonus. The main goal was to force the husks to bunch up as they charged, creating a narrow kill zone where we could focus our fire to lethal effect.

Once the husks had been corralled, I lifted my sniper rifle and fired a single shot. The barrel readily exploded, shredding all the mindless husks in the area. "Got it!" Tali said triumphantly. "Raising the bridge now!"

And not a moment too soon: another drop pod had landed. This one had a Banshee leading another horde of husks. "Teams Two and Three on the Banshee," I decided. "Everyone else tackle the husks."

Javik dealt the first blow on the Banshee with his biotics while the designated teams were switching to rapid-fire weapons like submachine guns and assault rifles. Garrus followed up with a concussive round. Not appreciating that, the Banshee blinked forward. Being the seasoned veterans that they were, Miranda and James waited until she stopped moving before firing off a biotic salvo and a concussive round.

Meanwhile, EDI, Liara and I had our hands full. I sniped a target before igniting Liara's singularity, along with the trio of husks spiralling around. EDI was busy setting another husk on fire herself. After briefly considering tackling that burning zombie, I decided to let EDI and Liara have the fun. That meant two more shambling horrors whose heads were popped by yours truly. Hastily reloading, I sent some more plasma off and resumed landing headshots on husks.

The Banshee was getting closer, but I still had faith that the other teams could finish it off. Sure enough, Kaidan's biotics finally took out the Banshee's barriers. Two rounds of biotics and concussive rounds, along with several bursts of gunfire, finally took that obscenely pregnant Reaperfied asari down. With a defiant shriek, she disintegrated into dust.

That still left seven husks milling around. Thankfully, we still had some breathing room to take them out. One by one they fell, until we finally dropped the last one. Then and only then, we breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bridge is up!"

Turning around, I saw it swinging up into position. "Move!" I urged. "That elevator can't be far!"

The bridge was more of a walkway running along the side of yet another building. At the far end lay yet another ladder. I climbed up to yet another platform, ran across it, dodged yet another Harvester blast and up a damaged ramp to the elevator controls. Hitting the switch, I looked up to see the elevator slowly descend…

…and come to a screeching halt as it ran into some debris and broken girders that had fallen about halfway down. "Ann, the elevator's blocked!" I reported. "Is there another way up?"

"I'll override the pod door near you! There's an access point above, Commander, but you'll have to climb to it!"

Just like that, the door opened. "Copy that!"

We quickly went through the pod, scanning a weapons mod along the way and slowly made our way over to a flight of stairs. Several of them were twisted and warped, no doubt from the bombardment they had sustained, but we managed to make our way to the top.

Where several hostiles were waiting for us. I dropped the first Cannibal with a headshot while the squad pummelled the rest of them into pulp, burned them to a crisp or just riddled them full of bullets. They collapsed one by one, until it was just us.

Just us and the Ravagers, that is. One of them was about ten metres away. The other one was standing outside another prefab, about a couple hundred metres farther and fifteen metres up. We decided to deal with the closer one first. "Just like the Banshee, people. Light it up!"

Turned out once you knew what you were doing, the Ravagers aren't so hard to deal with. One sniper round and a couple combos of plasma and, well, anything else did the trick. Rinse and repeat for the second one. And maybe put a hole between a Cannibal's eye just for good measure.

We paused to reload and scrounge for thermal clips. And, in my case, anything else of value that wasn't nailed down. It was on my way back that I saw it, painted on the rock in red and dark brown hues. The colours were faded, but were still strong enough to stand out against the pale rock. Even if they didn't, I'd recognize the shape of a Reaper anywhere.

So it was strange that I looked upon the painting with a certain kind of… wonder. I could see how the ancient inhabitants of this world must have looked upon the Reapers as gods. Appreciate how the sheer vision of witnessing these eldritch titans must have inspired artists for centuries.

But it also scared the crap out of me. As awe-inspiring as the Reapers might have been—and still were to this day—they were also something… more. Something beyond the bounds of mortality, utterly inhuman, empty of compassion or pity.

Ignoring the chill that ran down my spine, I led the way up the ladder and into the building. There was a Cannibal rummaging through the medkit. It didn't notice me until I launched a stream of plasma at its back. Jumping to its feet, it spun around with a roar. So I unloaded half a clip from my submachine gun into its back. Then I gave it a good sock to the jaw. And another. And another. Then I unloaded the other half of my clip to finish it off.

Turning around, I saw the rest of my squad staring at me. James was the first to break the stunned silence. "Not bad, Loco. But you gotta turn your hips more. Put some more weight and power behind your punches."

"Thanks for the tip. Come on."

After looting the medkit, we stepped outside and broke into a run… only to come to a screeching halt when we discovered that the walkway was—wait for it, this'll be a bit of a shock—destroyed. We had to make yet another detour. Up a ladder, round a corner, gingerly step through a bunch of debris.

I almost started when the comm hissed to life. "Commander, they attacked my assistant, Hopkins! We're being cornered!"

"Stay hidden, Doctor," I replied, carefully hopping over an alley-wide gap between buildings.

"We're trying, but there's too many of them! Hurry!"

That was the plan, but it was harder when we kept running into Cannibals. Thankfully, they only came in pairs. A simple burst of biotics or plasma, paired with one of our other handy tricks, was enough to take them out.

Climbing another ladder—seriously, how many were there?—we passed another Reaper rock painting and headed underneath a tramway. Only the urgency of the situation kept us from staring at the artwork. Clearly, Bryson was in the right place.

I'm sure the husks we ran into would agree, if they weren't so busy moaning and running towards us. We began shooting them before they could get to the next part of the repertoire—namely, the biting and clawing and rending limb from limb.

At least there weren't tons of them charging our way. Unfortunately, there were enough of them that our progress was seriously hampered. I mean, have you tried firing on the run? If not, here's a hint: don't do it. You'll be lucky if you hit anything that way. So we had to stop, take out some husks, maybe take a step or two forward. Rinse, repeat.

Naturally, we hadn't gone more than ten metres when a Brute began stomping our way. "Team Two; focus fire on the Brute. One and Three; keep dealing with the husks. Orders given, I quickly got on the comm again. "Ann, are you still there?"

"We're barely hanging on! Hopkins is wounded! Are you close?"

"We're moving as fast as we can! Hang in there!"

Activating my cloak, I fired a shot from my sniper rifle. Then I launched a fireball. A second later, Miranda, James and Kaidan fired off biotics and concussive rounds. The series of explosions finally took that beast out.

Unfortunately, it triggered several more explosions. The back of my neck began tingling before an audible groan reached my ears.

"That platform's coming down!" Liara yelled.

My eyes jerked upwards. She was right. "Around! Go around!"

We double-timed it before everything came crashing down on top of us. I turned back to make sure everyone in the squad had made it out, so I got another look at the rocks. There was another painting of a Reaper. This time, there were a lot of stick figures next to it.

Then everything disappeared in a cloud of dust. We hurried onto a walkway and resumed our approach. I had just slid down a ladder when Ann cried out: "No, no! Boyles, stay down! Hopkins, what are you—oh God!"

"What's happening?" I asked.

Over the sound of a drop pod crashing down, Ann responded. "Kirkwood and Boyles tried to run for it. The Reapers got them! Hopkins… I think he's dead too."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liara trap two Cannibals in a stasis field. "Don't move until we get there!" Then I lifted my sniper rifle and began firing. My Cannibal went down after a few shots while Liara and EDI blew up the second one. When the gore settled, I spotted a Marauder standing behind them. Miranda and James immediately hit it with an EMP and a concussive round. I used up the last shot from my clip to finish it off.

Reloading, I took a few steps forward—then hastily dove for cover as a Harvester swooped down. Coming to a hovering stop overhead, it decimated several barrels. Thankfully, the squad didn't need me to give instructions. Kaidan struck the first blow against the Harvester with his biotics, which I promptly detonated with a fireball. Figuring that it was Team Three's turn, Garrus motioned for Javik to launch a biotic salvo of his own. He followed up with a concussive round while I took out another Cannibal. The latest explosion was still reverberating through the air when I turned my attention back to the Harvester and fired another shot. Apparently it had enough, because the flying horror flapped its ragged wings and flew away.

I paused long enough for everyone to reload before pressing forward. We rounded a couple corners, with explosions ringing in our ears, before running into a pack of Cannibals, clustered around a Ravager providing fire support. "Team One on the Cannibals; everyone else take out the Ravager!" I shouted.

While EDI and Liara alternated between plasma, biotics and bullets, I settled for doing what I did best: making Cannibal heads explode. Teams Two and Three entertained themselves by hammering the Ravager with biotics, plasma and concussive rounds. Not the best of situations, but at least no one was charging towards us. So it didn't take long before we finished them off.

I checked my HUD to get my bearings. "Elevator's that way," I said. "Split into teams, head towards the elevator and clear the area." We had to get to Ann—and any other survivors—but any haste on our part would be for naught if we got ambushed from behind by a husk or some other horror.

We got to the elevator. The coast was clear. While Garrus activated the elevator controls, I quickly searched the room for thermal clips. Got a medkit, some weapon mods and other goodies too. As soon as the doors opened and we clambered inside, I contacted Ann. "Elevator's online. We're coming up."

There was a quaver in her voice when she replied. "Please hurry."

A few seconds later, we arrived. Hurrying in, I made a beeline straight for a man covered in blood—presumably Hopkins. Ann was sitting next to him. "He tried to run," she said. "I told him not to, but he wanted to help the others."

While the rest of the squad split into teams and secured the area. I took a pack of medi-gel out of one of my pockets and began a scan with my omni-tool. About thirty-eight seconds later, I stopped the scan and put the medi-gel back.

Ann was a smart cookie, but it didn't take a scientist of her calibre to figure out what that meant. "Where did everyone else go?"

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "They didn't make it. Doctor, I need you to come with me."

"Oh, God." She closed her eyes and took several breaths. "Yes, of course."

"Just stick with me and you'll be fine." Of course, I didn't know that for sure, but a white lie seemed in order at the time. "Team One; we have the lead. Team Two; cover Dr. Bryson. Team Three; watch our six. Move out."

We carefully left the prefab and headed to a bunch of boulders. Ducking down, we kept a wary eye out for Harvesters, Cannibals and other Reaperfied horrors. Well, the squad did. Ann began talking again. Natural reaction, given everything she'd just been through. "I… was at another dig site when they attacked. I got back as quick as I could, but… what's happening?"

"I'm not sure," I said, looking around. My eyes stopped on the rock face behind us. There was another Reaper there, with several stick figures around it. I repressed the urge to drop to my knees or turn tail and run while screaming incoherently. "But it might have something to do with these paintings. Is that Leviathan?"

"Y-yes… yes, we think so. It's old. Much older than my father thought. Look down there, as if the natives were under its power."

Yeah, that tracked with everything I knew about them.

"Clearly a Reaper, but acting alone. Not like any Reaper we've seen before."

The mention of her father reminded me that she wasn't completely up to speed on recent events. However, this wasn't the time to break the bad news. "Doctor, I understand you found something recently."

She looked at me blankly for a moment before realizing what I was talking about. "The artifact. Yes, of course. Incredible. It's just ahead."

"Good," I said. "We need to secure it. Everyone, let's go."

We made our way towards an opening in the rock. "It may sound strange," Ann said, "but I'm certain it affects people. Alters their behaviour. I've only had a short time to study it."

"Not strange at all," I replied. "Did you find anything?"

She shrugged. "Not much, but I did learn something about the energy it generates."

That was when I heard some odd noises. "Get down!" I hissed.

We crouched down and began shuffling forward into a small cavern. Metal walkways stretched throughout it, leading to a rocky pedestal. On the wall above it loomed another Reaper painting. I looked at it briefly before lowering my gaze to the artifact below. Two Marauders were hunched over it, as if examining the artifact. A beam of crackling blue light fired out from the swirling depths of the sphere towards a human woman. The energies were so intense, they were actually lifting her off the ground.

"Who is that?" I whispered.

Ann's jaw dropped. "I… I don't believe it. That looks like Dr. Doloma—one of my colleagues from Task Force Aurora. Doc—Sarah disappeared two months ago during another expedition. We thought the Reapers got her."

"It appears you were correct," Javik said grimly.

"What're they doing?" I whispered.

"They've activated it somehow," Ann said in awe. "I've never managed anything—"

She suddenly stopped talking. The back of my neck started to tingle. "Doctor?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Then Ann stood up and walked forward, bold as you please. "Doctor!" I hissed.

"They've learned too well," she intoned, a guttural tone somehow echoing along with her usual voice. "The darkness must not be breached…"

That tingling began to spread up and over my head. I felt my teeth chatter, even though the environmental controls of my hardsuit were still fully operational. More importantly, Ann was talking crazy talk. By this point, we all knew what that meant.

"Shepard!" Tali warned.

"Take it out!" I barked.

"Got it!" Garrus nodded.

Several shots rang out, every one of them hitting the artifact. The lights dimmed and flickered before the sphere exploded. All three Marauders collapsed like puppets who'd had their strings cut.

So did Ann. I quickly dropped to my knees beside her, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. Damn, it was cold out here! "Ann? You okay? Dr. Bryson?" Giving up, I got on the comm. "Cortez, we have Ann Bryson! Need an evac at my coordinates ASAP!"

"On my way, Commander! Sending NavPoint for extraction."

"Copy that!"

I heard a soft moan as I closed the channel. Ann was regaining consciousness. As James carefully helped her to her feet, Garrus walked over to me. "I happened to be looking outside. We've got hostiles between us and the NavPoint Cortez mentioned."

"Of course," I sighed. "We'll figure something out." To Ann, I said "Hey there. You still with us?"

"Um… yes. Y-yes, I think so."

"Good. We're going to deal with a couple Reaper baddies soon. A shuttle's coming to pick us up. You see it, you run. Don't look back! We'll be right behind you."

"Okay."

There were three Cannibals milling around when we emerged from the cavern. EDI and I took out one while Miranda and James blew up the other. Liara snagged the third in a stasis field—she seemed to be favouring them a lot lately—so we could have some easy target practice. (4)

Just as the beastie collapsed, a large shadow loomed overhead. Cortez's voice crackled in my ear: "You need to get rid of that Harvester!"

"You heard the man," I called out. Spotting two Cannibals, I dropped them both before issuing orders. "Teams Two and Three; staggered fire on the Harvester. Team One; help when you can, but focus on any ground forces."

The barrage of biotic blasts, plasma fireballs, concussive rounds and explosions came so quickly it seemed like one continuous bombardment of light and sound. Somehow, I maintained the presence of mind to shoot the occasional Cannibal that scampered into view. Before I knew it, the Harvester was gone. "Okay, Cortez! Harvester down. Get in here!"

"Copy that, Commander!"

A Marauder and another Cannibal joined the party. I began drilling holes in the Cannibals while EDI and Liara deployed EMPs and biotics. Unfortunately, the Marauder decided to focus fire on yours truly. In the blink of an eye, my shields shattered and I felt bullets hammering into my side. Doubling over in pain, I sought refuge behind a large crate. Team Two directed more EMPs and concussive rounds as my shields regenerated. When I finally poked my head up, I saw the Marauder flash-frozen right in front of me, courtesy of Kaidan and his cryo mod. As someone—Garrus, I think—shattered the Marauder into pieces, I glimpsed a shuttle on her final approach. "Shuttle ready for evac, Commander."

The drop pods landing around us told me it wouldn't be that simple. "Copy that! Team Two, Ann; head for the shuttle. Teams One and Three will cover you. Let's go!"

As Miranda, James, Kaidan and Ann made a run for it, the rest of us got to work. I sniped a Cannibal while EDI and Liara drained a Marauder's shields. I switched targets to take out the Marauder while Garrus and Javik zapped another Marauder's shields, then used my last round to drop that Marauder on the spot.

That was it for now, though the burning rock in the sky told me another drop pod was on its way. Team Two and Ann were almost at the shuttle. And my sensors were picking up a few more things. "Leapfrog near the shuttle. EDI, Liara; lay down cover fire."

I quickly scooted to the side and picked up some loot before doubling back. EDI and Liara had wounded several Cannibals, but hadn't scored any kills. The focus was on getting out, not eliminating any more horrors, after all. "Team One; go!" I ordered. We broke into a run while Garrus directed Javik and Tali to cover us. They managed to drop a few Cannibals, but only because we softened them up first. As soon as we were onboard, I gave the order for Team Three to double-time it. They bolted for the shuttle and practically dove in while we were finishing off the rest of the Cannibals.

Miranda whipped a hand out and slapped the hatch controls. It was still closing when Cortez diverted power to the thrusters and flew away. Away from the dig site and the mass graveyard it had become.

As soon as I was sure none of the Harvesters could intercept us, I made my way over to Ann. "You okay?"

"Yeah, Commander. I think so. Must've blacked out back there."

"Leviathan took control of you. We cut the connection before you got hurt."

Her jaw dropped. "Leviathan itself? That's incredible."

Not the words I would've chosen, but I hadn't been studying and tracking it as part of my life's work. "The Reapers seem as interested in it as we are," I said instead.

"Yeah, it certainly seems that way," Ann nodded.

"We were hoping you could help us figure out why." I took a deep breath before continuing. "But first… Doctor, I… have some bad news…" (5)

"Ann, please," she corrected, waving off the formalities. "Suppose Leviathan's broken away from the other Reapers? Never went back to dark space? Like a rogue or even a defector. I have to call my father. He'll want to know."

"Ann, you need to listen to me, okay?" I slowly knelt before her. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but… your father is dead. I'm sorry."

"He's… what? Dead? He can't be dead."

"We met with him, hoping to find out what he knew."

"What happened?"

"You're not the first to lose control," I admitted. "Your father's assistant was affected too. One minute he was fine, the next—he drew a gun on your father. I couldn't stop him."

"I can't believe this," Ann whispered. She got to her feet and went to the window.

"We have to find out what's behind it all," I continued, standing up. "You're the only one who can help us."

She was still looking out the window.

"Ann?"

"I… I want to see his office."

"You can come back with us on the Normandy," I nodded. "We'll make arrangements for accommodations."

The return trip was thankfully uneventful.

Ann spent most of her time in the temporary quarters we assigned for her. I dropped by during my rounds to check on her. She replied to my questions readily enough, but it was clear she was grieving. Once or twice, I saw James with her. Evidently, he was trying to help get her mind off things by teaching her the finer points of poker.

Speaking of rounds, most of the crew gave the usual responses to my inquiries. Every once in a while, though, they'd come up with something interesting. For instance, EDI had formulated a psych profile on Ann, though she was conscientious enough to wait until we were alone with Joker in the cockpit before giving me the brief. "She is not used to death, but she may be quite capable under stress," was her assessment.

"Let's hope so," I said. "She's got a lot of stress to deal with."

Liara offered a bit of levity. "What is it with you and rescuing scientists from dig sites that have been overrun by hostile forces?" she asked me.

"Nostalgia," I deadpanned. "I miss the good old days."

She rolled her eyes. "If you decide to help her take down the Shadow Broker, I'm going to be jealous. And somewhat concerned."

Garrus was thinking about the Reaper forces we'd encountered on Namakli. "I can handle the Reapers that run around, or the ones that crawl, or the ones that shuffle menacingly towards you. But it's the flying ones that give me the creeps."

"Be strong," I offered.

"So a Reaper goes rogue and kills one of its own," Kaidan summarized. "That's what we're looking at here, right?"

"Looks like."

"Bryson really was onto something big. Amazing." He shook his head in wonderment. "There's a lot of smart people in this galaxy. I'm a lucky guy to work with so many of 'em."

Javik was a little more suspicious. "If Leviathan is a defector—a Reaper that broke away from the others—then it is also a traitor. And traitors are never to be trusted, even among the enemy. If they can betray their own kind, imagine what they can do to you."

The classic conundrum of double agents and defectors everywhere. "Let's just find Leviathan and figure out exactly what its game plan is. Then we can worry about potential betrayals."

That was a sentiment Tali could agree with. "I'm glad Ann Bryson got out safely," she offered. "I just hope we find Leviathan before the Reapers do."

And Cortez was just plain ticked off at all the Harvesters cluttering up the airspace. "If another Harvester keeps me from dropping you off in the target LZ, so help me…"

James had returned to the shuttle bay during that particular conversation. "Esteban, don't let those oversized roaches push you around."

"Mr. Vega, taking on a sky full of worm-necks in a troop transport is like sending you against the Earth invasion armed with brass knuckles."

"What? You don't think I can do it?"

Cortez threw up his hands and walked away, the sound of James's laughter echoing through the room. To me, he admitted: "I don't know the scientific measurement of a shit-load, but that seemed like a shit-load of harvesters."

"Me neither," I returned, "but 'shit-load' sounds good enough."

We eventually returned to the Citadel. After we docked, I headed down to find Ann, but she was already gone. Didn't take a genius to guess where she was going.

Sure enough, when EDI tapped into the Citadel's surveillance systems, they found her heading for her father's lab. I called ahead and disabled the lockout so she could get in. Once we arrived, EDI logged into one of the computers. I paused to see if I felt or saw anything like what I'd experienced the last time I was here. Nope, everything was normal.

So I followed the sniffles up to the second floor. Ann was sitting on the floor against the bed; knees tucked up against her chest, tears running down her cheeks. "Ann?" I said softly.

She started. "Oh, Commander. Yes, I'm sorry. Just… this is so hard."

"Of course," I nodded. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she tried before her eyes welled up with fresh tears. "No. I don't know." She cleared her throat. "My father and I didn't leave things in a great state."

"An argument?" I guessed.

"Yes. It was… trivial. A disagreement on how to file some of the specimens. I was mad about something else. I don't even remember what. I took it out on him. So stupid."

"It's all right," I said. "Would you like me to come back later?"

"No, please. I'm okay." She got to her feet. "Seeing all this again... he was so obsessed. Crazy, sometimes."

"If you say so. I didn't get a chance to know him," I confessed.

She laughed ruefully. "Sometimes, I felt the same way. He was a great man, a pioneer. But… he could be distant. I felt like an inconvenience growing up. Something that distracted him from more important things."

"Did that make you angry?"

"Yeah. I was angry. Still am, I guess." She walked over and righted a portrait on the top of the chest of drawers. It showed Dr. Bryson with Ann as an adult. "But sometimes, he was so full of stories he nearly burst. I loved that about him. It's why I signed up for this work."

Still staring at the picture, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I can't believe he's gone."

"We'll figure this out."

"We have to." She took a deep breath, then turned around. "What have you found so far?"

"A few leads that helped us track down Dr. Garneau on Mahavid—though he succumbed to an attack by more of Leviathan's thralls. And some leads that brought us to you. But that's about it. You're our last chance."

"Fine," she nodded. "Let me dig into my father's work to see what I can find."

"Some of it could be disturbing," I warned. "If you need a few more minutes—"

"No," she said firmly. "When Leviathan took control of me, I remember being somewhere cold and dark."

Just like the miners on Mahavid, I remembered. And me.

"But my father taught me to never be afraid of the dark. I'm not scared, Commander. So let's get started."

As she walked away, I found myself staring at the picture. Whatever flaws Dr. Bryson might have had, there wasn't any doubt in my mind that he raised a courageous and brilliant daughter.

Not a bad legacy to leave behind, I thought.

EDI, Ann and I met downstairs by the Sovereign fragment. "I'm still amazed your father got his hands on a piece of a Reaper," I admitted.

"He was so excited," she said, smiling for the first time since we met her. "Your claims validated years of his work."

"Did you take appropriate steps to prevent indoctrination," EDI inquired.

"Of course. We scanned it on every frequency we could think of, including the ones mentioned in Commander Shepard's reports. It was completely shielded, as you can tell. And we all had regular psych evals."

She rubbed her forehead with one hand. "But now, thanks to the artifact, I'm indoctrinated anyway… aren't I?" She gave a bitter laugh. "Might as well be a rachni drone waiting for orders from the queen."

"I've met the rachni," I said. "Both drones and the queen. Trust me: you're no drone. And as for indoctrinated people, not all of them were helpless slaves. Some of them fought back. Some of them even regained control. If you keep your distance from those artifacts… maybe you'll be okay."

"Maybe."

We were silent for a moment.

"Speaking of rachni, I noticed you guys did some research on them."

"Actually, I wrote my dissertation on them." Ann brought it up on one of the computers. Lots of figures and numbers with the occasional paragraph that went on and on and on. To be honest, the rachni picture was about the only thing that made sense to me. "My father thought it was a waste of time," she continued, "but now… it might actually help us understand Leviathan."

"In what way?" EDI asked.

"We think of the rachni as telepathic, but there's really no such thing," Ann explained. "At short range, the queen uses pheromones to give orders, just like many of the other insect species we're used to. At long range, she uses an organic kind of communication based on quantum entanglement principles. Whatever Leviathan does must be similar, entangling particles to stimulate neural activity. I think it uses the artifact to establish a connection, and then it controls the mind of anyone near it."

"Hello? Anyone there?"

EDI and I followed Ann deeper into the lab. James was standing by the bench with the disembodied husk head. "Hey, Loco," he greeted me. "Need a hand?"

"What brings you down here, James?" I asked. "How'd you get here, for that matter?"

"Door was open."

Right. I disabled the lockout. Activating my omni-tool, I got the security measures back online before anyone else waltzed in.

"Besides, you're closing in on the Reaper-killer," he shrugged. "Anything that can scare those bastards has to be worth a look."

"When we were looking for Ann, I did specify that EDI and I be the only ones who enter here," I reminded him.

"But now you have that shield thing around the artifact, so we should be safe. Plus, we were all exposed back at that dig site."

All true, I suppose. Somehow, I had the feeling there was something else. "And?" I prompted.

"Well…" he glanced at Ann, who was busy looking at something on a datapad. "On the way back, I kinda promised her that I'd watch her back when she poked around here. She's been through a lot, right?"

And the truth came out. "Fine," I sighed. "As long as you don't touch anything."

"Cool." Just like that, James went from solemn and serious to giddy and excited. "Hey Commander, you see this thing? This is great!"

By 'this thing,' James meant the disembodied husk head. "Great? We've faced how many husks now?"

"Yeah, but we've never seen one with its head just sitting there like a trophy," he grinned.

Rolling my eyes, I turned away. The husk head shrieked.

"Ouch! Son of a…"

I quickly turned back. "James?"

He was shaking his finger. "Hey, EDI. Husk bites… they don't turn you into a husk or anything, right?"

"I recommend you apply medi-gel," EDI suggested.

As James quickly complied, I gave him my best glare. "What part of 'don't touch anything' do you not understand?"

"Sorry, Commander. Won't happen again."

"It better not."

"Hey, if nobody claims this thing, we could take it with us. You know, for research or, I don't know, whatever…"

"Seriously?"

"Just putting it out there. But I can see you're not onboard with that. Hey, I was thinking: you think Esteban would let me set up bowling pins in the cargo bay?"

Giving up, I turned to Ann. She was now alternating between her datapad and another computer. "We didn't detect any energy emissions from the artifact."

"But the Reapers were able to use the artifact to trace Leviathan somehow," EDI recalled.

"My theory is that, most of the time, the artifact simply acts as a receiver. A window through which Leviathan can see through. We'll only be able to trace Leviathan through it when it actively takes control of someone."

Kinda like sonar, I guess. (6)

"As it did at the dig site," EDI said. "Or with the miners on Mahavid."

"Right. Unless it needs something, Leviathan doesn't bother communicating." Ann gave a hiccupping sort of laugh. "I guess it and my father had something in common."

EDI had another question. "You said Leviathan's control was similar to a quantum entanglement communicator, which is untraceable."

"Yes," Ann admitted, "but this isn't a natural QEC. If I'm right, Leviathan has to send a pulse through the artifact to alter your mind and create the quasi-QEC effect."

"And that can be traced," EDI said.

"Exactly, just like at the dig site. Or with the miners on Mahavid. The Reapers have been shadowing us for months, ever since we stepped up our efforts to find Leviathan. They must have captured Sarah and… exposed her to another one of those artifacts. Once she was under Leviathan's thrall, the Reapers used her to deliberately activate the artifact and trace the signal."

She shook her head. "I can't believe it. So many people lost their lives chasing Leviathan. Like my father…" Her eyes grew distant again. "My father wanted to be there, you know. He was getting too old for long digs, but he hated being stuck in the lab. He nearly missed my graduation because he was on a dig. Showed up still wearing his field gear. Only guy not in formal clothes. God, he'd have hated dying here…" She closed her eyes and leaned against the console of the galaxy map.

"Ann," I said, "I know this is hard, but if there's anything more you can tell us…"

"I've been looking through all the files. I don't think there's anything more I can tell you… but maybe I can show you."

Oh, I did not like the sound of that. "What are you saying?" I asked carefully.

"Like I said, the artifact only sends out a signal when Leviathan's controlling someone. So let it control me. You could trace the signal."

"You mean let that thing take over you?" James said in horror. "Ann, no! That's too dangerous!"

"It's my call, James, not yours," Ann said firmly.

"Actually, it's my call," I said. "Ann, I appreciate what you're offering, but you're still grieving the loss of your team. Of your father. You sure you want to be making this kind of decision?"

"We don't really have a choice, do we? You said it yourself: I'm your last chance to find this thing."

Well, that was true. But being controlled against your will was bad enough. Deliberately letting yourself be taken over was a whole 'nother level of horrifying. "There's no guarantee that Leviathan will take the bait," I pointed out. "Even if it does, we have no idea what will happen."

"If we wait, the Reapers will get to Leviathan first," Ann insisted. "I'm the only one here who's spent enough time with it to do this."

"But Ann—" James tried again.

"You guys are looking for something to fight the Reapers," Ann interrupted. "I'm looking for the monster that murdered my father."

"The two goals aren't entirely aligned," I tried one last time. "Besides, we still don't know what we're looking for."

"Then let's find out," Ann said firmly.

God help me, but she was right. We were out of leads. Out of people to find and rescue. The Reapers were out there, and they seemed to be ahead of us. We had to take the initiative back. Now. "All right," I sighed. "EDI, see if you can jury-rig something to trace Leviathan back to its source."

"Thank you, Commander," Ann nodded.

EDI got to work while Ann headed to the lunchroom to grab a cup of water. James caught my eye, so I sidled over to him. "Commander, this thing we're doing with Ann… sounds dangerous as hell."

"Noted," I nodded. "But EDI and I have been through this lab twice. We don't have any other leads." God help me. "EDI?"

"Lab internal sensors have been linked to the galaxy map," she replied. "Artifact energy signature locked in. Waiting for activation." She paused, then tilted her head towards the artifact. "All other safeguards for the shield have been shut down."

"Good."

Ann was sitting down on the steps leading up to the area holding the artifact. "You sure about this?" I asked, one last time. "It's not too late to change your mind."

She hadn't changed her mind. "Yes. I'm sure."

"I'm going to be right here," James told her softly.

Ann flashed a smile at him. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

"All right," I said. "James, drop the containment shield."

"Shield is dropped."

The blue hexagonal shield vanished. I stared at the artifact. It was dark at first. Then, slowly and inexorably, a swirl of colours began to appear. "Artifact online," EDI confirmed.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Nothing yet," Ann reported.

"No trace yet,' EDI added.

James shifted uneasily. "Maybe Leviathan won't take the bait."

"Wait."

I looked back at Ann. She was starting to sway back and forth, like she was drunk or disoriented. "There's something," she continued, her head drooping, then jerking up again. "I feel a chill…"

So did I. Like I had just stepped into a walk-in fridge. "EDI?"

"No trace yet."

The back of my neck began tingling again. I knew what that meant…

Suddenly, Ann shuddered violently. Her hands began flailing. "Holy hell!" James exclaimed, dropping to his knees and grabbing her.

"Signal is tracking," EDI told us. "Maintain connection."

I spared a glance at the galaxy map. Lines were stretching out from various systems as the trace began.

"Turn back. The darkness can't be breached."

"Dios!"

Looking back, I saw James struggling to keep Ann still. And given the differences in their physiques, that was saying something. Clearly, 'Ann' had left the building.

EDI looked at me. "Maintain connection."

"Listen to me," I said. "I found you. And the Reapers are right behind me."

"You have brought them." Suddenly, Ann's voice deepened to a dark, guttural and utterly inhuman rasp. "You are a threat."

That was when it appeared. At least, I think that's when it appeared. Staring at Ann, I could swear that something was… flickering around her. A shadow, an afterimage. Flickering in and out as if trying to superimpose itself over her. The silhouette looked very much like a Reaper…

I took a deep breath and told myself to stop shaking. "So are you," I retorted. "I've seen what you can do. And you know what? I don't care. I need you. The war needs you. Everybody needs you."

Ann's head bowed. "There is no war. There is only the harvest."

"EDI, do we have enough?" I asked.

"Partial lock," EDI replied. "Maintain connection to narrow the search."

Ann was struggling again. "You heard her," James said. "We got enough. I'm hitting the shield."

"Belay that, Lieutenant!" I snapped. I looked at the galaxy map again. The display seemed dimmer, somehow. "Just a few more minutes. Or maybe less—EDI, how are we doing?"

"Signal is fading. Maintain connection."

"Listen to me," I told Leviathan. "We can fight them. We can win this!"

"The cycle cannot be broken."

"You're wrong," I said.

"Focusing the point of origin," EDI informed us. Her voice seemed distorted, as if it was coming from a great distance. "Maintain connection to narrow the search."

The light seemed to be fading. Everything was growing dark. And cold—why was I feeling so cold? I tried to put all that aside. We were almost there, I told myself. We just had to hang on a little longer. And by we, I meant Ann.

That was when a whimper reached my ears.

I quickly looked at her again. She was still struggling—no, shaking. Like she was having a seizure. Her eyes were glazed over. A trickle of blood, bright and crimson against her pale skin, slowly ran out of one of her nostrils. As I watched, another whimper escaped her lips.

"Shepard!" James cried out, his voice somehow echoing through the air.

It wasn't worth waiting any longer, I decided. Not if it meant losing Ann. "Raise the shield!" I said. As I dropped to my knees beside her, James lunged for the controls.

As soon as the blue hexagonal shield went up, Ann stopped offering any resistance. I barely caught her head in time before it hit the ground.

"Madre de Dios," James whispered, "look at her." He crouched down and gently wrapped an arm around her.

That was when I noticed that the lighting and temperature had returned to normal. Or maybe it had never changed. Maybe it was all in my head. I decided to ponder that another time. Right now, I had more important things to worry about. "Ann? Ann, are you all right?"

"Ugh… I… I'm not sure," she winced. "My head… it hurts."

"It's going to be okay. You did great."

I joined EDI by the galaxy map. "Did we get anything?"

"Yes, Shepard," she replied. "However, the trace was interrupted before it could be completed. I have narrowed the search grid to the Lenal system and the Psi Tophet system within the Sigurd's Cradle star cluster. We will need additional time to identify the precise location. Search results have been sent to the Normandy."

"This better be worth it," James muttered as he helped Ann to her feet.

"Agreed," I nodded. "We'll get her to Huerta Memorial before heading out," I ordered. "I'll call ahead and tell Dr. Michel she's coming. Ann, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"It was dark," she offered, trying to wipe the blood from her nose. "Cold. I can tell you this much: Leviathan is angry. Really angry."

"It knows we're getting close," I said.

"I think it wants to kill you."

"Well, it'll have to get in line," I replied. "Come on, let's get you some help. James?"

"Gotcha. All right, Ann. Time to see the doctor, doctor. Get it? 'Cuz you're a doctor and she's a doctor…"

"I got it, James. Are you always this bad at telling jokes?"

"Bad? Hey, some of my material's pretty damn good. Did I tell you about the time I was at a bar called Chuckles? Dinky little dive on…"

(1): Little did Shepard know that Thessia would not be a safe refuge for long.

(2): Shepard never divulged his experiences during our search for Leviathan. However, he must have recognized what they could mean, as he included them in the personal logs submitted to the Alliance—just in case the information they contained were ever needed.

(3): By 'bad,' Shepard meant fusing the bulkheads, destroying all computer equipment and killing every crew member and passenger.

(4): Upon reflection, Shepard was right. I cannot recall a particular reason for favouring that technique over singularities. I suppose it simply seemed like a good idea at the time.

(5): Shepard alternated between 'Dr. Bryson' and 'Ann' throughout his personal log. I suspect the latter was intended more for convenience, to distinguish her from her father.

(6): A human acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging, this technique uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or underneath the surface of a body of water. Shepard likened Leviathan's means of observing subjects through the artifact to passive sonar, which involves listening for the sound made by objects or vessels. Leviathan reaching out through the artifact to control its subjects, on the other hand, was more like active sonar, in which pulses of sound are deliberately emitted to locate and analyze objects based on the resulting echoes. In combat situations, the use of active sonar was considered a gamble as enemy ships could trace the sounds back to the originating vessel—much like the Reapers and Shepard used Leviathan's signal to trace its location.